Methods and apparatus to monitor wi-fi media streaming using an alternate access point

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to monitor WI-FI media streaming using alternate access points. An example apparatus disclosed herein monitor wireless traffic includes an example traffic monitor to identify a connection of a WI-FI client to a primary access point and capture a management frame transmitted from the primary access point to the WI-FI client. The example apparatus further includes an example frame generator to insert a change channel announcement into the captured management frame and a router to cause a wireless interface to transmit the beacon frame to the WI-FI client.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to media monitoring, and, moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus to monitor WI-FI media streamingusing an alternate access point.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, media devices have been provided with Internetconnectivity and the ability to retrieve media from the Internet. Assuch, media exposure has shifted away from conventional methods ofpresentation such as broadcast television, towards presentation viaconsumer devices accessing media via the Internet.

Media providers and/or other entities such as advertising companies,broadcast networks, etc. are often interested in the viewing, listening,and/or media behavior of audience members and/or public in general. Themedia usage and/or exposure habits of monitored audience members, aswell as demographic data about the audience members, are collected andused to statistically determine the size and demographics of an audienceof interest.

Traditionally, audience measurement entities determine audienceengagement levels for media programming and/or advertisements based onregistered panel members. That is, an audience measurement entityenrolls people who consent to be monitored into a panel. The audiencemeasurement entity then monitors those panel members to collect mediameasurement data identifying media (e.g., television programs, radioprograms, movies, DVDs, etc.) presented to those panel members. In thismanner, the audience measurement entity can determine exposure measuresfor different media (e.g., content and/or advertisement) based on thecollected media measurement data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment in which theteachings of this disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram an example implementation of the alternateaccess point of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A-3C are block diagrams illustrating interactions between thealternate access point, the WI-FI client device, and the client accesspoint.

FIGS. 4-5 are a flowcharts representative of machine readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the alternate accesspoint of FIGS. 1 and/or 2.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structuredto execute the instructions of FIGS. 4-5 to implement the alternateaccess point of FIGS. 1 and/or 2.

The figures are not to scale. Instead, the thickness of the layers orregions may be enlarged in the drawings. In general, the same referencenumbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts.

Descriptors “first,” “second,” “third,” etc. are used herein whenidentifying multiple elements or components which may be referred toseparately. Unless otherwise specified or understood based on theircontext of use, such descriptors are not intended to impute any meaningof priority, physical order or arrangement in a list, or ordering intime but are merely used as labels for referring to multiple elements orcomponents separately for ease of understanding the disclosed examples.In some examples, the descriptor “first” may be used to refer to anelement in the detailed description, while the same element may bereferred to in a claim with a different descriptor such as “second” or“third.” In such instances, it should be understood that suchdescriptors are used merely for ease of referencing multiple elements orcomponents.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Media monitors can be installed into consenting households to monitormedia consumed in that household. With recent advances in Internettechnology, streaming media have become a major source of media forconsumers. Certain types of media monitors, called streaming meters,allow media streamed over a network (e.g., the Internet, etc.) to bemonitored. In some examples, streaming meters monitor home wirelessnetworks (e.g., WI-FI networks, etc.) to collect records of mediastreamed to media devices in the home. In some examples, streamingmeters use packet injection and false disassociation/deauthentication togain passively monitor WI-FI traffic (e.g., by obtaining a Wi-FiProtected Access 2 (WPA2) session key, etc.).

As used herein, streaming refers to a transmission of an object in whichthe object is used by the destination before entirety of the object isreceived by the destination. For example, streaming media refers to thetransmission of a media object (e.g., a video file, an audio file,etc.), wherein presentation of the media object at a destination maybegin before the entirety of the media object is received by thedestination. While examples described herein refer to monitoringstreaming media, any type of media that travels via a wireless networksuch as a WI-FI network may be monitored in accordance with thisdisclosure.

Current streaming meter methods suffer from several problems that makemonitoring WI-FI traffic difficult. Firstly, WI-FI Access Pointsprotected management frames (e.g., as described in Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11w) prevent thestreaming meter from forcibly disconnecting a WI-FI client using packetinjection, which further prevents the streaming meter from decoding theassociated WI-FI traffic. Secondly, future WI-FI security protocols(e.g., WPA3, etc.) may utilize encryption to prevent a third partydevice from obtaining session keys from traffic monitoring. In suchexamples, future WI-FI security protocols may only allow bandwidth usageto be determined by a snooping device and not allow for the collectionof details of wireless transactions. Thirdly, multiple input/multipleoutput (MIMO) configurations and multi-user multiple input/multipleoutput (MU-MIMO) configurations make determining the location of thestreaming meter more important in decoding the traffic. In someexamples, such configurations make reconstructing multiple signals intouseful data difficult.

Methods, apparatus and systems disclosed herein enable the monitoring ofWI-FI traffic using an alternate access point installed into a home withthe same network credentials (e.g., Service Set Identifier (SSID),password, etc.) as the home's primary access point on a differentchannel. In some examples disclosed herein, the alternate access point,referred to as an alternate access point, includes a router, a trafficmonitor, a media monitor, a frame generator and an ethernet switch. Insome examples disclosed herein, the router is used for communicationwith clients and provides conventional access point functionalities. Insome examples disclosed herein, the traffic monitor is used to monitortraffic of the household's access point and for packet generation. Insome examples disclosed herein, the frame generator can reroute trafficto the alternate access point using a fake channel change announcement(e.g., imposter channel change announcement, etc.). In such examplesdisclosed herein, the alternate access point can capture a frame (e.g.,a beacon frame) associated with the primary access point and insert achannel change announcement to instruct the Wi-Fi client to switch tothe channel associated with the alternate access point.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment 100 in which theteachings of this disclosure may be implemented. In the illustratedexample, the environment 100 includes an example WI-FI client 102, anexample primary access point 106, an example alternate access point 108and an example external network 110. In the illustrated example, theWI-FI client 102 and the primary access point 106 exchange firstcommunications 112, which include media requests transmitted by theWI-FI client. In the illustrated example, the alternate access point 108transmits second communications 114 which causes the primary accesspoint 106 to disconnect from the WI-FI client 102. In the illustratedexample, the alternate access point 108 and the example WI-FI client 102exchange third communications 116 include media requests transmitted bythe WI-FI client. In the illustrated example, the environment 100 is ahome of a consumer. In other examples, the environment 100 can be anyarea in which streaming media is viewed (e.g., public transit, abusiness, etc.).

The example WI-FI client 102 is a device that retrieves media from theexternal network 110 for presentation. In some examples, the WI-FIclient 102 is capable of directly presenting media (e.g., via adisplay). In other examples, the WI-FI client 102 can present the mediaon separate media presentation equipment (e.g., speakers, a display,etc.). Thus, the WI-FI client 102 may or may not be able to presentmedia without assistance from a second device. WI-FI clients aretypically consumer electronics. For example, the WI-FI client 102 can bean Internet-enabled mobile device (e.g., a smartphone, a portable musicplayer, a portable video player, etc.), video game consoles, tabletcomputers, digital media players (e.g., digital video recorder,over-the-top devices, etc.), smart televisions, desktop computers,laptop computers, servers, etc.

The example primary access point 106 is a networking device thatfacilities connection between WI-FI client 102 and the external network110. In some examples, the primary access point 106 is a hardware deviceprovided by the internet provider of environment 100. In some examples,the primary access point 106 can be connected to a router. In otherexamples, the primary access point 106 can be integrated into a router.In the illustrated example, the primary access point 106 communicateswith the WI-FI client 102 using management frames (e.g., beacon frames,etc.). In some examples, the WI-FI client 102 and the primary accesspoint 106 exchange first communications 112 which can include themanagement frames, media requests, etc.

The example alternate access point 108 is networking device thatfacilitates a connection between the WI-FI client 102 and the externalnetwork 110. In the illustrated example, the alternate access point 108has the same network credentials (e.g., the same SSID and password,etc.) as the primary access point 106. In some examples, the alternateaccess point 108 has a different channel than the primary access point106. In some examples, the primary access point 106 is a hardware deviceprovided by a monitoring agency (e.g., a monitoring element of a mediaprovider, an independent monitoring entity, etc.). In some examples, thealternate access point 108 monitors the traffic of the primary accesspoint 106 (e.g., via the second communications 114, etc.). In someexamples, the alternate access point 108 can intercept a managementframe sent by the primary access point 106 to the WI-FI client 102. Insuch examples, the primary access point 106 can insert a channel changerequest into the management frame. In some examples, the channel changerequest can conform to the standard set forth in IEEE 802.11h. In suchexamples, the channel change request is a broadcast packet and cannot beprotected by 802.11w.

In some examples, the channel change request can instruct the WI-FIclient 102 to connect to the alternate access point 108. In someexamples, once the WI-FI client 102 is connected to the alternate accesspoint 108 (e.g., via the third communications 116), the alternate accesspoint 108 can directly connect to the external network 110 (notdepicted.) In other examples, the alternate access point 108 can connectthe WI-FI client 102 to the external network 110 via any other suitablemeans. In some examples, when presented with two access points with thesame SSID, a WI-FI client (e.g., the WI-FI client 102, etc.) willconnect to the access point with the strongest signal. In such examples,the alternate access point 108 can be configured to have a strongersignal than the primary access point 106. In some examples, when theWI-FI client 102 is connected to the alternate access point 106, theWI-FI client 102 can transmit the example third communications 116. Insuch examples, the example third communications 116 can include themedia requests. In some examples, the alternate access point 108 cancreate records of media transmitted to the WI-FI client via thealternate access point 108. In some examples, if the alternate accesspoint 108 fails (e.g., a power failure, etc.), the WI-FI client 102 willautomatically reconnect to the primary access point 106 (e.g., byreassuming the communications 112). In some examples, the examplealternate access point 108 can also be physically connected to one ormore media devices (e.g., via an ethernet connection, etc.). In suchexamples, the alternate access point 106 can also monitor traffictransmitted via the physical connection.

The example external network 110 is an example network that extends overan area larger than the environment 100. For example, the externalnetwork 110 can include the Internet, a wide-area network (WAN), etc.The example external network 110 allows the WI-FI client 102 to connectto a web-location that contains media (e.g., a server associated with astreaming service, etc.). In such examples, the external network 110 canfacilitate to the transmission of the media to the WI-FI client 102 viathe primary access point 106 and/or the alternate access point 108.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram an example implementation of the alternateaccess point 108 of FIG. 1. The example alternate access point 108includes an example wireless interface 202, an example traffic monitor204, an example frame generator 206, an example router 208, an examplemedia monitor 210 and an example ethernet switch 212.

The example wireless interface 202 receives wireless transmissionstransmitted within its detection range and transmits wireless signalsfrom the alternate access point 108 to the WI-FI client 102. Forexample, the example wireless interface 202 can receive transmissionsfrom the WI-FI client 102 and/or the alternate access point 108. In someexamples, the wireless interface 202 can configure the networkcredentials (e.g., the SSID, the password, etc.) of the alternate accesspoint 108. For examples, the wireless interface 202 can receiveinstructions to change the SSID and password of the alternate accesspoint 108 to that of the primary access point 106. In other examples,the wireless interface 202 can configure any other suitablecharacteristics of the alternate access point 108. In some examples, thewireless interface 202 can be implemented using multiple interfaces. Insuch examples, a first one or more wireless interfaces may monitortraffic and/or packet injection. In such examples, a second one or morewireless interfaces may facilitate standard communication with the WI-FIclients (e.g., the WI-FI client 102, etc.). In some such examples, thefirst one or more wireless interfaces may not include any of the secondone or more wireless interfaces. In other examples, one or more wirelessinterfaces may be shared by the first one or more wireless interfacesand the second one or more wireless interfaces.

The example traffic monitor 204 monitors the traffic of the primaryaccess point 106. In some examples, the traffic monitor 204 canadditionally craft the packets used to interact with the WI-FI client102. In some examples, the traffic monitor 204 can detect and interceptthe management frames transmitted by the primary access point 106. Insome examples, the traffic monitor 204 can query the router 208 todetermine the network addresses of packets transmitted and/orintercepted via the alternate access point 108. For example, the trafficmonitor 204 can identify identifiers (e.g., a MAC address, an SSID,etc.) identified in the communications between the Wi-Fi client 102 andthe primary access point 106 that indicate the identity of the Wi-Ficlient 102 and the primary access point 106. In some examples, thetraffic monitor 204 can analysis traffic transmitted via the alternateaccess point 108. In such examples, the traffic monitor 204 can identifytraffic related to media requests from streaming services. In someexamples, the traffic monitor 204 can also monitor traffic transmittedover one or more physical connections.

The example frame generator 206 generates and/or modifies frames to betransmitted by the router 208 via the wireless interface 202. Forexample, the frame generator 206 can generate management, control and/ordata frames to be used to modify the connection between the WI-FI client102, the primary access point 106 and/or the alternate access point 108.For example, the frame generator 206 can modify a captured beacon frameto include a channel change request. In some examples, the framegenerator 206 identifies the section of the management frame associatedwith transmission channel. In such examples, the frame generator 206inserts, modifies and/or otherwise changes the channel associated withthe captured modified frame. In such examples, the frame generator 206can cause the captured beacon frame to include instructions for theWI-FI client 102 to connect to the channel associated with the alternateaccess point 108.

The example router 208 is used for communications with WI-FI clients(e.g., the WI-FI client 102) and to allow the alternate access point 108with conventional access point functionalities. For example, the router208 can direct data packets received via the wireless interface 202and/or external network 110 to their intended destinations. In suchexamples, the router 208 can detect a network address embedded in thepacket to determine the destination of the packet. In some examples, thetraffic monitor 208 and/or the media monitor 210 can interface with therouter 208 to receive the network address. In some examples, the router208 can include any number of individual routers configured to specificWI-FI transmission bands (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, etc.).

The example media monitor 210 analyzes media requests transmitted viathe alternate access point 108. For example, the media monitor 210 canextract information from a media request (e.g., a request to streammedia from a streaming service, etc.) that includes media identifyinginformation. In some examples, the media monitor 210 extracts awatermark and/or generates a fingerprint based on the transmitted mediarequest. In some examples, the media monitor 210 correlates thedestination of the media request (e.g., a particular streaming service,etc.) and the media request to identify the media associated with themedia request (e.g., via a look-up table, etc.). In some examples, themedia identifying information can include user identifying information.In some examples, the media monitor 210 can transmit the extracted mediaidentifying information to a central facility of an audience measuremententity. In such examples, the media monitor 210 can transmit the mediaidentifying information periodically or continuously. In some examples,the media monitor 210 can store the media identifying information on amemory associated with the alternate access point 108. In such examples,the media identifying information can manually be retrieved by atechnician associated with the audience measurement entity.

The example ethernet switch 212 enables ethernet connections into thealternate access point 108. For example, the ethernet switch 212 allowsthe alternate access point 108 to be physically connected with a mediadevice (e.g., a personal computer, etc.). In such examples, the ethernetswitch 212 allows the alternate access point 108 to monitor mediatransmitted to physically connected devices (e.g., over an ethernetcable, etc.). In some examples, the ethernet switch 212 can be coupledto the primary access point 106 (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 1, etc.).In other examples, the ethernet switch 212 can be coupled to anysuitable external connection. In some examples, the ethernet switch 212can be absent. In such examples, the alternate access point 108 cancommunicate with the external network via wireless communication.

While an example manner of implementing the alternate access point 108of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2, one or more of the elements,processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 may be combined, divided,re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way.Further, the example wireless interface 202, the example traffic monitor204, the example frame generator 206, the example router 208, theexample media monitor 210, the example ethernet switch 212 and/or, moregenerally, the example alternate access point 108 of FIG. 2 may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination ofhardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of theexample wireless interface 202, the example traffic monitor 204, theexample frame generator 206, the example router 208, the example mediamonitor 210, the example ethernet switch 212 and/or, more generally, theexample alternate access point 108 could be implemented by one or moreanalog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s),programmable controller(s), graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)),digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of theapparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the wireless interface202, the example traffic monitor 204, the example frame generator 206,the example router 208, the example media monitor 210 and/or the exampleethernet switch 212 is/are hereby expressly defined to include anon-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such asa memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-raydisk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, theexample alternate access point 108 of FIG. 1 may include one or moreelements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIG. 2, and/or may include more than one of any or all ofthe illustrated elements, processes and devices. As used herein, thephrase “in communication,” including variations thereof, encompassesdirect communication and/or indirect communication through one or moreintermediary components, and does not require direct physical (e.g.,wired) communication and/or constant communication, but ratheradditionally includes selective communication at periodic intervals,scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-time events.

FIGS. 3A-3C are block diagrams illustrating interactions between theWI-FI client 102, the alternate access point 108, and the primary accesspoint 106. FIG. 3A depicts an example first configuration 300. The firstconfiguration 300 depicts the example WI-FI client 102 and the primaryaccess point 106 establishing an example connection 302. In theillustrated example of FIG. 3A, the alternate access point 108 candetect the connection 302 with an interception 304. For example, thetraffic monitor 204 can detect the connection 302 and capture a beaconframe associated with the connection 302. In some examples, the beaconframe is not protected (e.g., encrypted, etc.) so the alternate accesspoint 108 can intercept and read it without decryption.

FIG. 3B depicts the example configuration 306 after the alternate accesspoint 108 has monitored the connection 302. The example firstconfiguration 300 depicts the example alternate access point 108transmitting an example channel change command 308. In some examples,the example channel change command 308 includes a command to change thechannel associated with the connection 302 (e.g., the channel of theprimary access point 106, etc.) to the channel associated with thealternate access point 108. In some examples, the WI-FI client 102 canreceive the channel change command 308.

FIG. 3C depicts the example configuration 310 after the WI-FI client 102has received the channel change command 308. In the illustrated exampleof FIG. 3C, the WI-FI client 102 has established the connection 312 tothe alternate access point 108. In such examples, the WI-FI client 102transmits media requests via the alternate access point 108.

Flowcharts representative of example hardware logic, machine readableinstructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or anycombination thereof for implementing the alternate access point 108 ofFIG. 2 are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The machine readable instructions maybe one or more executable programs or portion(s) of an executableprogram for execution by a computer processor such as the processor 612shown in the example processor platform 600 discussed below inconnection with FIG. 6. The program may be embodied in software storedon a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, afloppy disk, a hard drive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associatedwith the processor 612, but the entire program and/or parts thereofcould alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 612and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although theexample program is described with reference to the flowchart illustratedin FIGS. 4 and 5, many other methods of implementing the examplealternate access point 108 may alternatively be used. For example, theorder of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of theblocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionallyor alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one ormore hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/ordigital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, a comparator, anoperational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured toperform the corresponding operation without executing software orfirmware.

The machine readable instructions described herein may be stored in oneor more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a fragmentedformat, a packaged format, etc. Machine readable instructions asdescribed herein may be stored as data (e.g., portions of instructions,code, representations of code, etc.) that may be utilized to create,manufacture, and/or produce machine executable instructions. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be fragmented and storedon one or more storage devices and/or computing devices (e.g., servers).The machine readable instructions may require one or more ofinstallation, modification, adaptation, updating, combining,supplementing, configuring, decryption, decompression, unpacking,distribution, reassignment, etc. in order to make them directly readableand/or executable by a computing device and/or other machine. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be stored in multipleparts, which are individually compressed, encrypted, and stored onseparate computing devices, wherein the parts when decrypted,decompressed, and combined form a set of executable instructions thatimplement a program such as that described herein. In another example,the machine readable instructions may be stored in a state in which theymay be read by a computer, but require addition of a library (e.g., adynamic link library (DLL)), a software development kit (SDK), anapplication programming interface (API), etc. in order to execute theinstructions on a particular computing device or other device. Inanother example, the machine readable instructions may need to beconfigured (e.g., settings stored, data input, network addressesrecorded, etc.) before the machine readable instructions and/or thecorresponding program(s) can be executed in whole or in part. Thus, thedisclosed machine readable instructions and/or corresponding program(s)are intended to encompass such machine readable instructions and/orprogram(s) regardless of the particular format or state of the machinereadable instructions and/or program(s) when stored or otherwise at restor in transit.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 4 and 5 may beimplemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/ormachine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, aread-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, arandom-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any formof “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising,including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation ofany kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc.may be present without falling outside the scope of the correspondingclaim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is usedas the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it isopen-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including”are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form suchas A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as(1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) Bwith C, and (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context ofdescribing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the contextof describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context ofdescribing the performance or execution of processes, instructions,actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B”is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at leastone A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B.Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performanceor execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/orsteps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer toimplementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B,and (3) at least one A and at least one B.

The program 400 of FIG. 4 includes block 402. At block 402, the wirelessinterface 202 configures the network credentials of the alternate accesspoint 108 to the same as the primary access point 106. For example, thewireless interface 202 can receive the SSID and password from thehousehold associated with the primary access point 106. In someexamples, a technician installing the alternate access point 108 can aska member of the household for the password. In such examples, thetechnician can provide the network credentials to the alternate accesspoint via the wireless interface 202. In other examples, the wirelessinterface 202 can configure any other suitable credentials of thealternate access point 108. In other examples, the wireless interface202 can receive network credentials (e.g., the SSID and/or password) byany other suitable means.

At block 404, the traffic monitor 204 detects connection of the WI-FIclient 102 to the primary access point 106. For example, the trafficmonitor 204 can detect the transmission of a beacon frame from theprimary access point 106 to the WI-FI client 102 via transmissionsdetected by the wireless interface 202. In some examples, the wirelessinterface 202 can determine identifier(s) included in the communicationsbetween the WI-FI client 102 to the primary access point 106 (e.g., aMAC address, an SSID, etc.). In some examples, the traffic monitor 204can detect any other suitable transmission from the primary access point106.

At block 406, the traffic monitor 204 captures a beacon frame from theprimary access point 106. For example, the traffic monitor 204 receivesa beacon frame detected by traffic monitor during the execution fromblock 404. In some examples, the traffic monitor 204 can wait for abeacon frame to be transmitted by the primary access point 106. In someexamples, the traffic monitor 204 can identify the transmitted beaconframe based on an identifier associated with WI-FI client 102 and/or theprimary access point 106. In other examples, the traffic monitor 204 cancapture a beacon frame by any other suitable means.

At block 408, the frame generator 206 inserts a channel changeannouncement into the capture beacon frame. For example, the framegenerator 206 can insert a channel change announcement into the capturedbeacon frame that causes the WI-FI client 102 to connect to thealternate access point 108. In such examples, because the alternateaccess point 108 has the same network credentials as the primary accesspoint 106, the WI-FI client 102 can connect to the primary access point106 without additional information in the event of a failure of thealternate access point 108. At block 410, the frame generator 206outputs the modified beacon frame to WI-FI client 102 via the wirelessinterface 202. For example, the WI-FI client 102 can receive themodified beacon frame and begin communication with the alternate accesspoint 108.

At block 412, the router 208 determines if a connection between thealternate access point 108 and the WI-FI client 102 has beenestablished. For example, the router 208 can determine if packets and/orframes are being exchanged between the WI-FI client 102 and/or alternateaccess point 108. If the connection has been established, the process400 returns to block 404. If the connection has not been established,the process 400 returns to block 406.

The program 500 of FIG. 5 begins at block 502. At block 502, the trafficmonitor 204 to detect a media request from the WI-FI client 102. Forexample, the traffic monitor 204 can detect a request transmitted to astreaming service via the alternate access point. In other examples, thetraffic monitor 204 can detect a media request by any other suitablemethod.

At block 504, the example media monitor 210 extracts media identifyinginformation from media request. For example, the media monitor 210 canextract a media identifier from the media identifier. In some examples,the media monitor 210 can extract other information from the mediarequest (e.g., demographic information associated with a user of theWI-FI client 102, a timestamp related to the

At block 506, the router 208 transmits media identifying information tothe audience measurement entity. For example, the router 208 can causethe media identifying to be transmitted via the ethernet switch 212. Inother examples, the router 208 can cause the media identifyinginformation to be transmitted via any other suitable means (e.g.,wireless, cellular, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the mediaidentifying information can be stored on a memory associated with thealternate access point 108. In such examples, the media identifyinginformation can be retrieved from the alternate access point 108 by atechnician associated with the audience measurement entity.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 600structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 4 and 5 to implement thealternate access point 108 of FIG. 2. For example, the processorplatform 600 can be a router manufactured to implement the teachings ofthis disclosure, can be a router that has been modified aftermanufacture (e.g., modified firmware, modified software, adding orremoving hardware, etc.), and/or a combination thereof. Additionally oralternatively, the processor platform 600 can be a server, a personalcomputer, a workstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., a neuralnetwork), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tabletsuch as an iPad), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internetappliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, aBlu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder, a set topbox, a headset or other wearable device, or any other type of computingdevice.

The processor platform 600 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 612. The processor 612 of the illustrated example is hardware.For example, the processor 612 can be implemented by one or moreintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs, orcontrollers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor implements the example wireless interface202, the example traffic monitor 204, the example frame generator 206,the example router 208, the example media monitor 210 and the exampleethernet switch 212.

The processor 612 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 613(e.g., a cache). The processor 612 of the illustrated example is incommunication with a main memory including a volatile memory 614 and anon-volatile memory 616 via a bus 618. The volatile memory 614 may beimplemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), DynamicRandom Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM®) and/or any other type of random access memory device. Thenon-volatile memory 616 may be implemented by flash memory and/or anyother desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 614, 616is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 600 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 620. The interface circuit 620 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as one or more Ethernetinterface(s), one or more universal serial bus(es) (USB), one or moreBluetooth® interface(s), one or more near field communication (NFC)interface(s), and/or one or more PCI express interface(s).

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 622 are connectedto the interface circuit 620. The input device(s) 622 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 612. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voicerecognition system.

One or more output devices 624 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 620 of the illustrated example. The output devices 624 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printerand/or speaker. The interface circuit 620 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chipand/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 620 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 626. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a WI-FI connection, adigital subscriber line (DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, acoaxial cable system, a satellite system, a line-of-site wirelesssystem, a cellular telephone system, etc.

The processor platform 600 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 628 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 628 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundantarray of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk(DVD) drives.

The machine executable instructions 632 of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be storedin the mass storage device 628, in the volatile memory 614, in thenon-volatile memory 616, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed that allowmonitoring of Wi-Fi traffic using an alternate access point. The examplemethods, apparatus and articles of manufacture capture all Wi-Fi trafficthat would be routed through the primary access point without needing todecode the traffic. Additionally, because the alternate AP uses thenetwork credentials as the primary AP, it is transparent to users whenthey are moved to another access point. Furthermore, by broadcasting achange channel announcement, clients using the primary AP can beconvinced to transfer to the alternate access point. Such a broadcastcan appear to originate with primary AP by capturing a modifying amessage transmitted by the primary AP (e.g., selecting a message formodification that is not encrypted by the primary AP). Additionally, ifthe alternate access point malfunctions, the client device willautomatically connect back to the primary access point.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to monitor wireless traffic, theapparatus comprising: an traffic monitor to: identify a connection of aWi-Fi client to a primary access point; and capture a management frametransmitted from the primary access point to the Wi-Fi client; an framegenerator to insert a change channel announcement into the capturedmanagement frame; and a router to cause a wireless interface tore-transmit the captured management frame including the change channelannouncement.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the channel changeannouncement is to cause the Wi-Fi client to connect to the apparatus.3. The apparatus of claim 2, further wherein the traffic monitor is toidentify a media request transmitted from the Wi-Fi client to anexternal network, the media request transmitted via the apparatus and,the apparatus further including a media monitor to extract mediaidentifying information from the media request.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the media monitor transmits the media identifyinginformation to an audience measurement entity.
 5. The apparatus of claim1, further including a wireless interface to configure the apparatus tohave the same network credentials as the primary access point.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 5, wherein the same network credentials enable theWi-Fi client to reconnect to the primary access point if the apparatusis disabled.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the wireless interfaceto configure the apparatus to have a different channel than the primaryaccess point, the channel change announcement including instruct theWi-Fi client to use the different channel.
 8. A method to monitorwireless traffic, the method comprising: identifying a connection of aWi-Fi client to a primary access point; and capturing, via an alternateaccess point, a management frame transmitted from the primary accesspoint to the Wi-Fi client; inserting a change channel announcement intothe captured management frame; and re-transmitting the capturedmanagement frame including the change channel announcement.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the channel change announcement is to causethe Wi-Fi client to connect to the alternate access point.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further including: identifying a media requesttransmitted from the Wi-Fi client to an external network; and extractingmedia identifying information from the media request.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, further including transmitting the media identifyinginformation to an audience measurement entity.
 12. The method of claim8, further including configuring the alternate access point to have thesame network credentials as the primary access point.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the same network credentials enable the Wi-Fi clientto reconnect to the primary access point if the alternate access pointis disabled.
 14. The method of claim 12, further including configuringthe alternate access point to have a different channel than the primaryaccess point, the channel change announcement including instruct theWi-Fi client to use the different channel.
 15. A non-transitory computerreadable medium including instructions, which when executed, cause aprocessor to: identify a connection of a Wi-Fi client to a primaryaccess point; and capture, via an alternate access point, a managementframe transmitted from the primary access point to the Wi-Fi client;insert a change channel announcement into the captured management frame;and re-transmit the captured management frame including the changechannel announcement.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the channel change announcement is to cause the Wi-Ficlient to connect to the alternate access point.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions furthercause the processor to: identify a media request transmitted from theWi-Fi client to an external network; and extract media identifyinginformation from the media request.
 18. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause theprocessor to transmit the media identifying information to an audiencemeasurement entity.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor toconfigure the alternate access point to have the same networkcredentials as the primary access point.
 20. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 19, wherein the same network credentials enablethe Wi-Fi client to reconnect to the primary access point if thealternate access point is disabled.